New Delhi, Jan 3 (IANS) Is everything fine in dealings between Home Minister P. Chidambaram and National Security Advisor M.K. Narayanan? Ever since he took over after the 26/11 terror attacks, Chidambaram has been setting the home ministry in order and has been religiously holding daily morning meetings with intelligence heads responsible for maintaining internal security.
Though Narayanan - himself a former chief of the Intelligence Bureau - is a minister of state by protocol, he gets no special treatment and is treated on a par with the other intellignce chiefs. Insiders point out that Chidambaram is keen to establish who the boss is. His proposal to bring all intelligence agencies under one roof by setting up the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) is the latest pointer that he does not want multiple intelligence chiefs.

If his ambitious plan goes through, then the National Technical Research Organisation and the Aviation Research Centre that report to Narayanan will be weaned away. A little bird tells us that Narayanan, who commanded authority and influence during UPA-1, is not too happy.

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Soft power wins over Japanese

Actor Deepika Padukone was clearly the cynosure of all eyes when she created a splash, dressed in a trendy saree designed by Manish Malhotra, at a dinner hosted by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for visiting Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and his wife Miyuki last week.

Both Yukio Hatoyama and his wife are big Bollywood fans and were more than just delighted to meet the lissome actress, whose debut film “Om Shanti Om” two years ago was a big hit in Japan.

They chatted animatedly over dinner, also attended by Congress president Sonia Gandhi and 20 cabinet ministers. Insiders in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said that conversation also veered to south Indian superstar Rajnikant, who still rules millions of hearts in Japan with his machismo and flamboyance.

Popularly known as “Odori Maharaja” (the dancing king), the icon is hugely popular, particularly among young Japanese.

“The issue of civil nuclear cooperation between the two countries could not be settled but we swayed them with our soft power,” quipped a PMO official.

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Never say die Tiwari

The controversial exit of Narain Dutt Tiwari from Andhra Pradesh’s Raj Bhavan after an alleged sex scandal has not deterred the octogenarian leader from making attempts to return to active politics. After his unceremonious exit, Tiwari, a former chief minister of Uttarakhand state, landed in state capital Dehradun, where a large number of Congress leaders, incuding several legislators, made a beeline to meet him.

Interestingly, the Congress high command in Delhi has not given any indication of how it intends to deal with Tiwari’s attempt to return to politics, preferring to first let the storm completely die down.

The result is confusion among Congress workers and leaders, who are unsure whether Tiwari will be asked to stay away from state politics or be given a role in party affairs. For a man who has weathered many a storm, many feel he will make a comeback in some form or the other, even at age 86!

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Karnataka babus in hurry to be rehabilitated

The so-called truce engineered by the top Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leadership between warring factions in Karnataka has turned the spotlight on a set of bureaucrats who were caught in the crossfire. Since it was a no-holds barred power struggle between Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa and the influential Reddy brothers, some of the bureaucrats were relieved of their lucrative postings as part of the compromise formula.

It is now learnt that these bureaucrats, close to both the factions and who bore the brunt of the feuding, want to be rehabilitated in some form.

Insiders point out that there could be more trouble in store as the uneasy truce has all the potential of collapsing and possibly calling for another round of fire-fighting from the central leadership. And before that happens, the bureaucrats are desperate for any posting.

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Guidelines for yellow fever countries

With nearly 1,000 people dying of swine flu and another 600 due to Japanese encephalitis, the government is concerned that there should be no outbreak of fresh diseases in the new year.

An extra cautious New Delhi has issued strict guidelines for delegates from nine countries where yellow fever is prevalent and who are expected to attend the Conference of of Speakers and Presiding Officers of the Commonwealth (CSPOC) on the precautions they need to take.

Speakers and presiding officers from 50 countries of the Commonwealth are expected to attend the three-day conference that begins Jan 5. The guidelines are applicable to delegates from Cameroon, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda and Guyana.

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Waiting in the wings for a cabinet berth

A union cabinet reshuffle may still be a while away but Babulal Lal Marandi of the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha-Prajatantrik (JVM-P) is bound to find a slot when it happens. According to Congress party stalwarts, the former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief minister of Jharkhand has won the hearts of many in the high command (read Sonia Gandhi).

Though the Congress failed to form the government after the assembly polls threw up a hung assembly, the party could expand its base in the tribal dominated state with Marandi’s help. The Congress-JVM-P alliance won 25 seats in the 81-member assembly but fell short of 16 seats to cross the half-way mark. But the party is looking at a long-term plan and would have to bank on Marandi’s help.

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Kalmadi stops news leaks from CWG headquarters

There is bad news for hacks looking to get spicy and juicy news stories from the 2010 Commonwealth Games Organising Committee (OC). With too much negative publicity last year, OC chairman Suresh Kalmadi has finally taken steps to plug the leaks.

Better late than never seems to be Kalmadi’s motto and he has appointed his chief confidant Lalit Bhanot, who is also secretary general of the OC, as the official spokesperson.

Last year, OC vice president Randhir Singh went to town blasting the organisers. But in this crucial year, with just 10 months to go before the games, Kalmadi needs all the good press he can get as time is fast running out.